Books about to pass games in number of Apple apps — 27,301 and climbing

February 12, 2010 12:31 PMPaul Boutin

Mobile app analytics firm Distimo emailed us a chart from the Netherlands that breaks down the 150,000-plus apps in Apple’s store by category. If you’re wondering how the total count leaped from 100,000 to 150,000 so fast, I can explain it in one word: books. In advance of the iPad tablet computer’s arrival in six to eight weeks, publishers have placed 27 thousand titles in the iTunes App Store’s Books section already, with more on the way.

Distimo founder Vincent Hoogsteder says he spotted two more surprise trends in the store: First, the Books category has the largest share of paid applications with 92% of all apps being paid. Second, because of all the books, 75% of all applications are now paid. Only 25% are free.